Monday, March 31, 2008

Kids love bubbles. Bubbles may seem like a simple joy, but there is science behind the fun. Bubbleology is just one of the hands-on activities for kids at the upcoming Science and Math Expo at Volunteer State Community College. The theme this year is “The Extraordinary Science of Ordinary Things.”

“There are so many scientific principals behind even the common things in everyday life, like dish detergent and laundry soap,” said Associate Professor Parris Powers. “You can learn a lot of science doing fun activities. That’s the whole theme of the Expo.”

Slimeology will show kids how to make slime from an easy recipe of household items. Parents may wonder about the science of slime, but it teaches kids about fluids and polymers. Slime provides a way to learn about chemical changes, atomic structure, viscosity and solubility.

Flight school will investigate aerodynamic principles using paper airplanes. Kids can learn how to build the best paper airplane, while also learning about lift, stability, drag and Bernoulli’s principle.

“Were going to make our own wind tunnels to show aerodynamics at work,” said Powers.

It may sound like stuff for older children, but the Science and Math Expo is designed for all kids from kindergarten through middle school. Parents and grandparents are encouraged to tag along and take part in the fun. 50 activities will be presented by Vol State faculty and students. They’re often hands-on experiments where the children learn by doing.

“With the bubbles we’ll see which ones will last the longest,” Powers said. “We’ll look at why bubbles form a sphere and why we can see colors in bubbles.”

Many other popular activities will be returning this year, such as the reptile room, egg drop contest and science discovery room.

The 7th annual Vol State Science and Math Expo will be held on Thursday, April 3 from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. It will take place in the Wallace Building on the Vol State campus at 1480 Nashville Pike in Gallatin. The event is free and open to everyone. For more information call 615-230-3261.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Our initial meeting was a great success and Jim Dye of TBR gave an excellent presentation on the "must" have free tools that he uses. After several requests, we will have another informal meeting on Tuesday March 25 from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. in the Jim Moore conference room.

Bring your Mac if you can - but better yet just join the fun. If you have any questions, please contact Laura in the Language Center or Mary in Distance Learning.

Spring is in the air and that means it's time for all recreational tennis players to join the fun on the tennis courts. Whether you regularly play in a league or haven't hit a tennis ball in a few years, this is the place to be.

Join us at the Vol State tennis courts on Thursdays from 4:45 until....bring a racket and a drink we'll provide the rest.

If you need more information, feel free to contact Ron Timberlake in the P.E. department.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Blogs are a great forum for public debate and so we want to use this blog to talk about a burning issue...smoking on campus. Dr. Nichols is interested in finding out what people think about a more extensive smoking ban on campus. Currently smoking is restricted to the outdoors and certain distances from each building. Many TBR colleges and universities have adopted tougher restrictions that only allow for smoking in parking lots. An even tougher restriction could call for no smoking anywhere on campus. What do you think? Feel free to respond in the comments section below and take part in our poll on the left side of your screen.

Volunteer State Community College Biggest Loser group is shrinking by the week! After six weeks over 100 students, faculty and staff has lost a hefty 1,284.65 pounds! This dedicate group have learned healthier ways to eat, are seen in the gym working out and walking around the quad. We only have six more weeks to go before we know who will be the Biggest Loser at Vol State.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Do pigs fly? Can government really be made easy? I don’t know about government but finding information from the government is easy with USA.gov. The site is an example of how to do e-government, or at least i-government, the right way.

Skepticism is understandable when you first encounter the USA.gov slogan, government made easy, but you will likely become a convert after using the site. The site offers many ways to find information -- browse by audience, browse by topic, or search the site. The search allows you to search all government resources with a web presence – federal, state or local. Sometimes it can be easier to search for information on Tennessee state government through this site than Tennessee’s website.

One appeal of the site for me is the way it presents its search results. Yes, you get the usual list of results common to all search engines. But an added bonus of this site is that results are also categorized by topic, agency, and sources. These categorized results are on the left side of the screen and are easily overlooked. Don’t overlook them!

Gov Gab, a blog, has daily updates through the work week on various topics. Curious if daylight savings times is really saving energy read the March 4 blog, Daylight Saving Time Begins Sunday March 9, and follow the link to a draft study on the impact of daylight saving time. You can subscribe to Gov Gab with RSS and mark the ones you like with a Del.icio.us tag, save it as a Technorati favorite or just Digg it.

Now about those flying pigs? Go to USA.gov, type in “pigs fly” and see what our government has to say about that.

*BOLD WOMEN* *GUTSY GIRLS* *BRAZEN BABES*Come hear and share stories about a time you were gutsy, courageous, wild and outrageous. THAT TAKES OVARIES is a collection of real-life stories from women & girls about the gutsy, outrageous, courageous things they have done. Multicultural, fun, sassy, true tales of estrogen-powered deeds, from playful to political. After, share stories about times you or the women in your life acted boldly. Everyone who speaks gets a chocolate egg wrapped in gold foil -- a Golden Ovary.

That Takes Ovaries is a multicultural book, an open mike movement & organizing tool for women and girls' empowerment. They have held over 400 events to date. Rivka is author of the book That Takes Ovaries: Bold Females and Their Brazen Acts. Bobbi is a TTO book contributor and our Artistic Director. She recently went to Asia to use the TTO model to empower women and girls who had been forced into the sex slave trade. Together Rivka and Bobbi adapted the book into a play for the stage. Both are dynamic and inspiring speakers.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for a great deal. Even thought I'm usually more likely to write about admission to Volunteer State Community College than be the Tech Tuesday blogger, I wanted to share an article from PC Magazine I recently read. The cover story for this month's magazine is Best Free Software. The magazine article has a blurb about each software title and a link to the website, but if you go to the article's website, you can just follow the link to download any of the software you think would be useful. A lot of freeware isn't as feature-rich as a paid version, but on a tight student budget, it's hard to beat free.

Anyone out there know of any freeware not on the list that you can't live without? Post a comment and let us know.

CALLING ALL MAC HEADS!!!! The time has come for this year’s first VSCC Mac Users Group meeting. The meeting will be held on March 11th in the Rochelle Center from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. The entire campus is invited to join in a discussion about issues, solutions, and learning ideas related to Apple Computers. For more information, please contact Mary Nunaley or Laura Black at 615-452-8600.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Spring break is underway at Vol State. While there are no classes this week, all of the college offices are open, which makes it a good time for people considering college to come visit. The Admissions office in the Ramer building can get things started for you. You can get a tour, find out about our classes and degree programs. From there you can head over to Advising to discuss possible majors and what you want to accomplish in college. Perhaps you just have a general idea about returning to college, but you have no idea what you might take? Advisors can help you sort through all the options, to help you find a new passion, and perhaps a new career. Spring break runs through this weekend, so consider a visit soon!